Sleepwalkers

[dconnery1966]

Well said Simon could not have put it better myself
all the best Dougie

[ScottR]

Hi Simon,

Believe it or not I'm not stuck in the 80's, and you are right about DS peaks and valleys. Usually he is fully aware of when he and his loyal following need to come up for air. This is one of those times. I am pretty sure David is fully engaged in this instrumental thing based on past interviews but I hope you are right.

Back to SW, I hvae most of the on the new compilation already in one form or another. Five Lines & Sleepwalkers just don't do it for me but I do like the Exit/ Delete track. Overall its a much better outing but why buy something that you already have?

In the mean time I have a new Sufjan Stevens record to look forward too.

[missouriman]

Any good artist has periods of brilliance and periods of the blahs. Picasso painted some of the most amazing works and some of the most naff and putrid sh*t I have ever seen, but he is still a great artist regardless. There are fans of the banal and fans of the wild. Manafon has it all. Two tracks on that record I would be happy to not hear again. Period. However there are two tracks I MUST hear every day or I don't feel right. Who cares what critics or people on Amazon think? I am not going to reassess my love for his work cos a few folk don't get it. Don't press play then...

[ScottR]

Don't press play then...

finally we can agree on something m&m.

[baht habit]

I don't know where this instrumental news has come from. As far as I am aware Dai Fujikura is reworking a number of the Manafon tracks to feature the ICE ensemble. There is nothing to say that David's vocals won't be on the record.

That is correct. From the info that Dai Fujikura has shared, the remix of Random Acts Of Senseless Violence is a strong indicator of what to expect from the remixes. Sylvian has commissioned Fujikura to remix a few more tracks in addition to the completely new material that the two are working on for an early 2011 release. We could maybe view it somewhat as a Good Son Vs Only Daughter 2.0... but as a plus, we will get to hear new material rather than having another project focused only on remixes. The sound and direction of Five Lines is simply a foretaste of what to expect from the new material.
A few principal members of the International Contemporary Ensemble took part in Fujikura's previous remix of Random Acts as well as Five Lines - violinists Jennifer Curtis and Michi Wiancko, Wendy Richman on viola, and cellist Katrina Kleijn. The upcoming material is expected to also feature ICE member Erik Carlson in the absence of Wiancko. Carlson had contributed to a Matmos project with Antony Hegarty about four or five years ago.

[Haldeman Gracie]

Manafon has it all. Two tracks on that record I would be happy to not hear again. Period. However there are two tracks I MUST hear every day or I don't feel right.

You can't post that and not say which.

[missouriman]

Manafon has it all. Two tracks on that record I would be happy to not hear again. Period. However there are two tracks I MUST hear every day or I don't feel right.

You can't post that and not say which.

Fair point, Haldeman. The two on the cease and desist turntable are "The Rabbit Skinner" and "The Greatest Living Englishman". Dissonance.

The two to die for are "Snow White in Appalachia" and "Emily Dickinson". Consonance.

I know a hullabaloo will go up in protest, but we are who we are and I yam what I yam, the flowers of the pollen that we feed on...

[baht habit]

The two on the cease and desist turntable are "The Rabbit Skinner" and "The Greatest Living Englishman". Dissonance.

The two to die for are "Snow White in Appalachia" and "Emily Dickinson". Consonance.

I know a hullabaloo will go up in protest, but we are who we are and I yam what I yam, the flowers of the pollen that we feed on...

Why would anyone have a problem if certain songs fail at appealling to you? Dissonance isn't your thing and that seems understandable. 125 Spheres is the one on Manafon which I personally have found no reason to listen to...and I would hope that folks on this forum would find no fault with me for that.

[Haldeman Gracie]

I pre-ordered from Amazon (UK) without paying anything extra for delivery and waited an extra week. Still, owning all bar two tracks already, I wasn’t in much of a rush.

I suppose any comments on it were just as relevant when I saw the tracklisting. My main gripe then and now is the Inclusion of Nine Horses work. Snow Borne Sorrow is as much a solo album as Manafon in many ways and definitely feels out of place to me on this compilation. If he had to include this stuff, I’d have rather he’d kept it to the new EP tracks and the single B side. Wonderful World has now appeared on four of his last six CD releases (as I’ve counted ‘em). It’s a great track, but enough already! Wouldn’t Linoleum have made more sense?

As for the music itself... it’s all very good, some of it top drawer (Transit, The World is Everything, World Citizen, Playground Martyrs) so no real complaints there. Collaborating on music composed by others has definitely been his strongest suit in the last decade (this includes the bulk of Nine Horses, all of Manafon and most of the material on Sleepwalkers). Five Lines was OK, but it does seem like an odd post-Manafon step. Surely going from something as traditional as this to Manafon would have been the more expected route.

Sylvian has produced this with an eye on two things: a sequenced listening experience and a gathering of disparate tracks. I’d have sacrificed a bit of the former to have achieved all of the latter.

The two on the cease and desist turntable are "The Rabbit Skinner" and "The Greatest Living Englishman". Dissonance.

I think I was a bit baffled at first hearing on both, but they’re too familiar to feel like an awkward listening experience one year on. Rabbit Skinner is almost singalong now, I tell ya.

The two to die for are "Snow White in Appalachia" and "Emily Dickinson". Consonance.

Definitely the highlight of the album for me. Everything that makes them work so well though seems to be due to the soloists and Fennesz. Not sure how well they'd survive a classical 'remake'.

[missouriman]

Baht wrote:

Why would anyone have a problem if certain songs fail at appealling to you? Dissonance isn't your thing and that seems understandable. 125 Spheres is the one on Manafon which I personally have found no reason to listen to...and I would hope that folks on this forum would find no fault with me for that.[/quote]

Heck, you know how it is here BH. No only will we find fault we will find out where you live and beat up your cat for it.

Sylvian fans are a weird lot. Very determined, stubborn and opinionated. From what I hear just like David himself.

I personally only have a problem with songs that suck. Be it Dave or Lady Gagagagag or any other musician.

[Adrian]

only the ones who used too much bleach in the 80's...

[qdes]

Shipped on the 22nd, still no sign...

[Adrian]

really hoping it gets here today, tomorrow or Friday... Shipped on the 22nd as well (but Little Girls... also took way longer...) - we'll have to wait and see...

[opiate]

Actually you should drop a line to Samadhisound. I wondered what was taking so long as well and they took a look and said it looked as though it was 'lost in the post'. They kindly shipped it out to me again same day, which is brilliant service really. It could be there's an issue with some deliveries?

[Adrian]

I would expect to receive it sometime this week - if it's not here next Tuesday I will e-mail them.